


A Very Winchester Christmas

by Valentia



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Season/Series 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 04:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3555554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentia/pseuds/Valentia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Winchester didn't celebrate Christmas. But what if suddenly Cas appears and a certain brother thinks that a little bit Christmas feeling wouldn't even be that bad? Well, in this case it's clear that we'll have a very Winchester Christmas...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Very Winchester Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Weihnachten à la Winchester](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/106911) by Valentia. 



> Hello again! I know Christmas is long over but I didn't want to wait until December to post this translation.  
> It's my third SPN ff and still one of my favorites, though it's not about Destiel.  
> Hope you enjoy. :)

Dean Winchester didn't celebrate Christmas. Not as all the other people did. With a huge Christmas tree in the living room that was crammed with gifts. With glittering garlands and Christmas tree balls and thousands of candles, so you had to be careful that you didn't set the entire house on fire. There were no annoying _“Ho ho ho”_ shouting Santas in the garden and no plastic reindeers trailing a sleigh with colorful cartons behind them which were already completely soaked after the first snow. And instead of the typical Christmas music there was still AC/DC blaring from the speakers of the stereo.

Sam wasn't there and Dean actually had a day off on Christmas. They hadn't found any evidence of monsters activities. No unusual weather, no corpses with shredded bodies, throats slit or missing hearts. It was simply quiet, and indeed that was one thing that caused a bad feeling, but Dean also enjoyed it somehow. In the end, he deserved a quiet day, too, after all he had been through.

Immediately after Sam had walked out the door (Dean had almost kicked him out without even asking where he wanted to go) Dean had taken two bottles of beer from the fridge, making himself comfortable on the big black sofa and turning on the TV. But already after a few channels he realized that he wouldn't get anything else to see or hear than Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Christmas songs, Christmas dinner and Christmas shows. He sighed, turning off the TV and throwing the remote to the corner of the sofa. Then he put the sound system at full volume.

As every year on December 25th Dean asked himself what he would do on Christmas if he hadn't been born into a family of hunters. Would he also be sitting in front of a huge Christmas dinner like all other families? With his parents who were happy even after all these years, with Sam who was wearing a Christmas hat with a pom pom, with his nieces and nephews Sam and Jess had given him, and maybe even with his own wife and children? And surely he would wear a reindeer sweater knitted by his mother, although he didn't like it, just because he wanted to make her happy.

In all these years that he and his brother had traveled through the United States, experiencing so much pain and suffering and death, Dean had almost forgotten what it was like to live a normal life. Yes, once he had got a taste with Lisa and Ben, but no matter how hard he had tried to forget Sam and to stay away from his work as a hunter, his past had caught up to him over and over again. Dean and Sam Winchester, hunters and legacy of the Men of Letters. It would always stay like that until they were old and gray and some lousy demon had faster reflexes than him.

Dean shook his head to dispel the dark thoughts and refocused on the music. He had closed his eyes and lay on the couch now, fully stretched out. The beer bottles were still on the small coffee table and Dean hadn't drank from them yet. He lay there for a while, thinking back to the beginning. When he and his father had been hunting and John hadn't returned. When Dean had broken into Sam's apartment in the middle of the night and Sam had left Jess for him. When he had destroyed his brother's life.

Dean opened his eyes, sitting up and opening one of the beer bottles, frustrated now. He didn't want to think about it. He drank the bottle half-empty, then he put it back down on the table, burping loudly. Sam would have rolled his eyes if he'd been there. Dean wondered if Sam had even told him where he wanted to go in the first place, but Dean didn't quite remember. He quarreled with himself if he should call and ask Sam, but in the end he didn't. His brother was only gone for half an hour, calling now would make Dean look desperate. Of course, he was always worried about Sam when he wasn't with him, simply because he knew what was going on out there, but he also knew very well that Sam could take care of himself alone.

Dean decided to dig out one of his beloved porn magazines and pass the time until Sam would be back. And then they would sit on the sofa just like every Christmas, each one of them a beer bottle in their hands, quiet and just happy for the moment. Happy that they were still alive and that they had each other. Dean never said it, but he loved Sam more than anything in the world, and he knew that Sam felt the same way. Their relationship was screwed up and sometimes he just wanted to kill his brother for his decisions, his naivety and his ignorance, but Sam still was his little brother and for the rest of his life he would try to keep him from all evil.

But he knew as well that this was just impossible. For they had a job to do - a job that wasn't paid with money, but only with the knowledge that you had saved some people, a job that demanded a lot and that took away the dearest people you had. A job that one committed his life to and that was even more binding than a pact with a cross roads demon. There was no escape, no way to get out, and Sam and Dean both had had to learn that many times. But now they had resigned themselves to it. And even though Dean still noticed Sam's sad and upset look whenever he saw a picture of Jess or their mother or their father, Dean knew that he was lucky. Damn lucky actually.

All this wasn't a thing he talked or thought about very often. Simply because he knew himself and knew that he'd become bitter and lonely if he allowed these thoughts all the time. And he just couldn't do that to Sam. He didn't know why, but just at Christmas these thoughts made their way back into his mind and no matter how much he tried to repress them he didn't manage to keep them off. Maybe that was one reason he didn't like Christmas and didn't want to celebrate it - because every year people showed him how beautiful life was if you were a normal person. But in Dean's life nothing was normal and he was tired of people reminding him of that time and again.

Dean often consoled himself with the fact that someone had to do the job. But he wondered as well why that someone had to be him. Why did he have to destroy his brother's life, why did he have to lose so many of his loved ones, why did he have to stop the apocalypse? But he would never get an answer to all these questions. He had drawn his lot and it just happened to be that way. That's why he hallowed the brief times when he was just happy. When he was in the Impala with Sam, laughing because they kept on arguing about useless things. When he sat next to his brother on Christmas and let the monsters be monsters, demons be demons and angels be angels.

And in the exact moment he was thinking of angels, he heard a familiar wing noise right behind him. He had just been on his way back to the living room, now dropping the magazine with shock. He immediately knew who had appeared that close to him. 

“Cas...”

“Hello, Dean.”

The angel's voice was as soft and gentle as every time he came to visit the Winchester's on special days. And Dean appreciated these visits, even though he never said or showed it. Castiel had become a real friend during the long time they already knew each other, and although he had made some bad decisions Dean was glad that the angel kept coming back to them. And for as long as he lived he'd never forget that Cas had pulled him out of hell. He had saved his life in those days and even more often after that and even though Dean didn't want to admit it it helped him when Cas was with him. It showed him that he and his brother weren't alone in the world and that there was someone who'd be with him in Heaven - and would take care of Sam on earth.

Dean was about to pick up the magazine but Cas had already stooped and picked it up. He took a quick look at it, making a face. Dean grinned inwardly. Since this story with the pizza man Cas felt uneasy about the sexual love between humans. Dean couldn't hold back a grin as he thought back to their visit to a sex club. How the screaming woman had pushed Cas away, because he had read her mind and had just been totally overchallenged. That had been one of those moments Dean had been happy. For at that situation Cas had simply been a friend and not an angel who protected Sam and him because they were important. Cas noticed Dean's true smile, handing him the magazine.

“Dean, I'll never understand that.”

“You're an angel.”

“I know, you don't have to remind me of that. I can't forget it.”

Dean sighed.

“Alright, Cas.”

A short silence, then they went into the living room. Dean turned off the music, regretting that a little, then he sat down on the sofa, telling Cas to do the same. Castiel did as he was told, but he sat down so close to Dean that the hunter was already pressed against the armrest.

“Cas, we've talked about this. Personal space.“

“My apologies, Dean. But I've recently seen that on TV when I walked past a store window. And the two seemed to really enjoy it.”

Cas looked at Dean, tilting his head as he always did when he didn't understand the human behavior. Dean thought that he should really know everything there was to know about humans by now, for Cas had already been human before. But it seemed like he hadn't figured out Sam and Dean yet. Maybe they were just different than others. Cas moved away from Dean a little bit, then they were silent again. Dean turned on the TV just to bridge the awkward silence, but he paid no attention to the show.

Castiel, however, seemed very interested. His gaze was fixed on the screen, his fingers folded in his lap as if he wanted to pray, sometimes narrowing his eyes when he didn't understand something. What hapepened quite often, for it was one of these terrible soaps and nothing was really logical there. When Dean got annoyed by the constant laughter that came from the TV, he turned it off again. He was about to begin a trivial conversation when he heard the door of the bunker open. Reflexively he reached under one of the sofa pillows, where they were always hiding a knife, but he relaxed again, seeing Sam come in.

In fact, he didn't see his brother's face but only his long legs and muscular arms and his hair that swung from side to side with every step. Sam was carrying two brown paper bags, both filled to the brim, and at first glance Dean could only see a six-pack of beer, a few cookies and to his surpise something glittering. But Sam just didn't...

“Sammy, what did you buy there?”

“Only the most important things for today.”

Sam looked past the paper bags to not fall down the few stairs, heading to the big table in the middle of the room. He didn't seem to notice Castiel, but the angel was already up, walking over to Sam. He came to a stop behind him as Sam was putting down the paper bags.

“Dean, I was just thinking-” Then he turned around and winced in shock. “Oh God, Cas! You scared the hell out of me! What about a _hello_ next time?”

Cas stared at the floor, embarassed.

“I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't want to disturb your conversation with Dean.”

Sam hit Cas' shoulder in a friendly way.

“All right, man. Well, the Winchester-and-Cas clique would be united. And that on Christmas...”

At the last words Sam began to grin, reaching into one of the two paper bags behind him and pulling out a red Christmas bobble cap.

“Sam, no.”

Dean was still sitting on the sofa, his beer bottle in his hand, now putting on one of his _if-looks-could-kill-you'd-be-dead-now_ looks. Cas watched the whole thing attentively. Sam sighed.

“Dean, come on, today's Christmas!”

“That's usually on December 25th. And you know what? It's just another day of the year and nothing special.” He glanced at the red bobble cap with the white fur and a sparkling bobble. “And I'm not going to wear _that_!”

Sam sighed again, glancing at Cas for help.

“Maybe Sam is right, Dean.”

Now it was Dean who sighed.

“Thank you, Cas. I thought you were my friend!”

Suddenly Cas seemed upset. He still didn't get it when people used irony.

“But Dean, I'm your friend!”

His voice sounded hurt and sad and it reminded Dean of all the times Cas had decided against him and for Heaven.

“Cas, I didn't mean it like that. Of course, you're my friend.”

“In this case I don't understand why you said it.”

Cas tilted his head again. Sam laughed.

“I get it, Dean, you don't like it,” he said. “I was just thinking that we could celebrate a halfway normal Christmas just once in our lives. And because we have no Christmas tree, I got these caps.”

Sam actually put on his cap now and Dean had to smile because it looked so funny. He realized that a small moose was embroidered on the cap and he couldn't help but think of Crowley and that his nickname for Sam wasn't really that far-fetched. Sam's hair was still tousled by the wind outside and looked quite chaotic now beneath the bobble cap. Sam went a step towards Cas and Dean heard a ringing that clearly came from the cap.

“Really, Sammy?”

Sam didn't answer, taking a second bobble cap from the paper bag. He went back to Cas, handed him the cap. Cas put it on and grinned from ear to ear, so that Dean had to smile, too. On Castiel's cap there was a star and it somehow fit him. But Dean still didn't want to put on a cap. He'd rather pay the next best vampire nest a visit. Sam threw the last cap to Dean and Dean deftly caught it with one hand. He briefly regarded it, noticing the motif: a present. Then he shook his head.

“Come on, Dean!” That was Sam. “You'll surely look damn cute with it!”

Sam laughed and grin also crept on Cas' face.

“Please, Dean. I saw how happy people were with their biscuits and bobble caps and sweaters.” Cas moved the bobble cap on his head, so that it rang. “Sam is really right. It would do you good, both of you.”

In Cas' voice there was so much faith and hope and naive cheerfulness that Dean couldn't do anything but give in. Reluctantly he put on his cap, silently cursing them for destroying his hair, then taking a sip of his beer. Sam laughed again and somehow it made Dean happy.

“You satisfied now?”

Dean grumbled something incomprehensible, opening the second bottle of beer. He'd need a lot of alcohol to survive this day.

“You look good, Dean,” Cas said, really meaning it, Sam laughed even louder and Dean shook his head, sighing.

Then Sam turned back to the paper bags, emptying them out. Cas still stood between sofa and table, a little haphazardly, until Sam told him to sit down with Dean, for he had a surprise. This time Castiel left Dean the space he needed and turned on the TV. After a few minutes of rustle Sam clapped his hands once, startling the other two who had been lost in the soap. Sam came over with a different bag. The content of the two paper bags was scattered all over the table and now Dean also recognized that his brother had bought some pie. He grinned.

“You thought of the cake! I'm proud of you, little brother.”

“Yes, but it's for later. Now I have some presents to give to you.”

“Uhm, what?”

Dean got distracted by his own high-pitched voice.

“Yes, I got you some presents.”

“I thought we don't do this whole present thing.”

Sam grinned.

“You said you wouldn't give me anything, but I never said anything about you. And because Cas is now here, too, I can give him his present even sooner than I thought.”

Suddenly Dean felt guilty. No matter how screwed up their life had been, Sam had always given him something for Christmas, even if they had no money and he hadn't been in the mood for presents. And what about him? All his presents for Sam had either been accidentally found or stolen and now he felt really bad. Cas seemed to feel the same way.

“But I don't have anything for you, Sam. And, unfortunately, neither for you, Dean.”

Sam only put him off.

“Don't feel guilty! I wanted to give you something and I do. I don't need anything in return, honestly!”

Dean believed him. His brother had always been a good-hearted man, he understood Dean. Sam sat down on the coffee table towards them, turning off the TV. He put the bag next to him and rummaged around. Then he pulled out a small red packet and handed it to Cas who glared at him in surprise.

“You don't have to give me anything!”

“But I want to,” Sam replied, his voice warm and honest.

“Thank you, Sam, really!”

Then Cas unpacked it. First he tried to not tear up the red paper, making Sam and Dean smile a little, but then he accidentally caused a rip in the paper and began to brutally tear open the package. His fingers tangled in a silver ribbon that was wrapped around the present, letting him curse, but in the end the paper and the ribbon ended up on the floor and Cas was holding a blue neck tie in his hand.

“For your old one is lost,” Sam said and Cas seemed really touched.

“Thank you, Sam, this is a great present!”

“Time and again, Cas, you're family.”

Dean himself was touched by Sam's words and gestures and he knew that he was already thankful for whatever he might give him. He put the beer bottle aside, accidentally throwing down the porn magazine which had already been very close to the edge of the table. But he didn't pick it up and took Sam's present instead. It was slightly larger, a blue packet with a golden ribbon and some stars on it. Usually, Dean would have stamped it as cheesy, but this time he thought it was just beautiful. He stared at the package for a while, then Cas nudged him with his elbow.

“Come on, unpack it!” he said, his eyes glinting of curiosity, anticipation and happiness.

Dean smiled a little, beginning to tear up the ribbon and paper. It joined the red paper on the floor and finally a small black car appeared. Dean didn't need two seconds to realize that it was the '67 Impala. For a moment he felt the urge to hug Sam, but he didn't. Instead, he looked at the little car from all sides, surveying the interior and grinning from ear to ear. He didn't know why, but right now Sam's present made him incredibly happy. He wasn't a little kid and didn't play with cars anymore, but it came from the heart and he would have been happy about everything that his brother gave him, and that it was his Impala in miniature form, made it all even better.

Dean looked Sam in the eye and couldn't say anything else but _“Thanks”_ , but he knew that Sam got it that this word meant so much more at that moment. It stood for everything they had been through together and that Dean was incredibly glad he had his little brother. Cas watched them from the side, smiling. After all, he firmly held the tie in his hands. Then Sam stared at him and pointed to his present..

“Come on, Cas, put it on.”

Castiel's expression changed from happy to embarrassed and the two Winchesters immediately knew what was wrong.

“Well, come here, Cas,” Dean said playfully and his bobble cap rang as he took the tie from Cas and tied it.

Castiel let it happen. When Dean had finished, he stared at his work, pleased. Now Cas really looked like he did as they had met him for the first time. Back when Castiel had been a true warrior of God and had obeyed the orders of her Father, just like all the other angels. He had done well since then - they all had. Dean took a look at the table and at what Sam had bought, spotting a few ingredients that could only mean one thing: they would eat burgers. Dean grinned.

“I'm hungry. What about you, Sam?” He threw a short glance at Castiel. “I'm sorry, Cas.”

“It's alright. Just go eat something.”

Immediately Dean made his way to the kitchen and took the ingredients with him. He lay one above the other, then put it in the microwave and waited three minutes. Right now he really didn't have the patience to do it in the oven. From the living room he heard Christmas music and sighed. This just couldn't be happening! He quickly took the two plates, put them on the big table in the living room and turned off the stereo. Sam, who had by then got some cutlery and napkins that Dean never used anyway, moaned, turning around with a flourish, so that his hair flew and his bobble cap almost slipped from his head. He quickly fixed it.

“Dean, honestly? Not even today? I'll turn down the volume.”

“No chance. The caps are already too much of a good.”

But he didn't take his cap off and tried to somehow ignore the ringing next to his ear. Then the two sat down at the table, eating their Christmas dinner, while Cas completely indulged in the TV show. It was fun to watch, as the angel kept on talking to himself or sometimes to the characters. Dean and Sam constantly threw each other amused glances, but Cas didn't notice that. Dean was the first one to finish his burger. He pushed his plate aside, immediately grabbing the pie. Sam grinned. When he had finished as well and wanted to take a piece, Dean quickly pulled the pie aside and protectively held it in front of him.

“This pie's mine, Sammy.”

Sam rolled his eyes, sighing.

“Dean, I just want a single piece! Besides, I gave you the presents.”

“Get yourself your own pie next time,” Dean muttered, but spared Sam a piece.

After a few minutes they cleaned the table and Dean quickly took three beer bottles from the kitchen before they threw themselves down on the sofa, one on Castiel's right and one on his left side. Cas was glancing back and forth between the two, as if he was waiting for one of them to say something. He didn't quite like the silence. Dean opened the bottle, handing one to each of them.

“And what are we going to do now?” Castiel asked.

“What do you want to do?” Dean asked back and Cas shrugged.

“I don't know. What exactly are people doing for Christmas? The two in the shop window were just sitting very close to each other and had their arms wrapped around each other. But I didn't understand the meaning of that.”

Sam laughed, Dean shook his head again.

“Cas, we definitely won't do that.”

“What else?”

“Usually, Sam and I just do what we're doing right now. We're sitting on the sofa, drinking beer and sometimes we're watching TV, sometimes we don't.”

Cas didn't seem to understand it - once again.

“And what's the purpose of that?”

This time it was Sam who replied.

“You know, Cas, some things can't be explained, but they still have a purpose.”

Dean knew what his brother wanted to say and left it at that. Although this tradition didn't make sense to anyone else, it did for his brother and him and that was all that mattered. No matter what any angel or demon or human thought about it.

“I think I understand it,” Cas finally said, remaining silent after that.

Dean was glad that Castiel was with them. He only got his angel and his brother left, but that was enough. He couldn't deny that he missed his parents, Bobby, who was like a second father to him, Joe and Ellen, Garth, Kevin, Lisa and Ben, and so many others, but he was glad that he had Sam and Cas. And for the moment, he forgot about all the bad things that had happened to him, and he was just happy to be able to celebrate Christmas with his brother and his best friend. Just like the Winchesters celebrated it. And that was perfect.


End file.
